Play free.

It’s a simple lesson Ty Glaus has carried with him throughout his baseball career, one his father, Troy Glaus, has passed down as Ty has made his own way through the game.

Now, as Glaus continues his journey through the USA Baseball pipeline, that mindset has taken on an even greater meaning.

Since first putting on a USA Baseball uniform in 2023, Glaus has grown both physically and as a player, going from a versatile role player on the 12U National Team to a more established everyday player.

Along the way, he has won a gold medal, returned to two 13U/14U Athlete Development Programs (ADP), and continued to test himself against some of the best players in the county.

And while those experiences have helped shape the player Glaus is becoming, his connection to USA Baseball carries another layer of meaning: his father wore the same uniform three decades ago.

“Just play free,” Glaus said. “It’s just play like no one’s watching, even if everybody is.”

For Glaus, the advice is about allowing himself to play to his full ability regardless of the moment or the competition around him.

“Because you’re not going to show well if you are tight and not playing to your full ability,” Glaus said. “You’ve got to play loose and play how you’re supposed to play.”

That mindset has followed Glaus through his USA Baseball journey, which began when he was 12 years old with the 2023 12U National Team.

Glaus helped the team capture a gold medal at the VII WBSC U-12 Baseball World Cup in Taiwan, appearing in five games and batting .444 with three RBIs. Earlier that summer, he played in all nine games of the World Cup Qualifier, recording seven hits, seven runs, and 10 RBIs.

But when Glaus looks back at that summer, the numbers aren’t what stand out most.

It is the people he shared the experience with and the way the team responded when its path to gold seemed uncertain.

“Just being with the guys and winning that gold medal when no one thought we were going to do so,” Glaus said. “After we lost to Japan, everyone thought we were out of it, and then we came back and ended up winning the whole thing.”

The celebration that followed remains one of his favorite memories.

“Just singing on the bus, we couldn’t fall asleep, and then flew out at midnight back home from Taiwan,” Glaus said. “So, right into it.”

Another moment from that summer stands out for a different reason.

During pool play in Mexico, Glaus hit a game-tying home run, helping keep his team within striking distance.

“I had a game-tying homer in the fifth,” Glaus said. “Really kept the game close. Rounding the bases for that was probably one of my best memories.”

Those moments gave Glaus his first taste of what USA Baseball could offer, but they were only the beginning.

He attended the 13U/14U ADP in 2024 and 2025, continuing to compete alongside and against some of the top players in his age group.

For Glaus, that level of competition has been one of the most important parts of his development.

“I mean, it’s everything,” Glaus said. “It makes you step up to that level and see what that is.”

Each experience has also helped Glaus better understand how much he has changed since that first USA Baseball opportunity.

“I mean, other than physically growing, like I’ve put on about six inches and 40 pounds,” Glaus said with a laugh. “Other than that, there’s more all around. I was kind of just a role player guy on the 12U team, played every position, got hits when I needed to. I’ve become more of an everyday type and mainstay type player than I was back then.”

The physical growth is only part of it.

Glaus has become more comfortable in his role and more confident in his ability to compete at a high level, something he continues to experience every time he steps onto the field at a USA Baseball event.

“You play locally, you play against one or two good players every week,” Glaus said. “You’re just like, ‘Oh, yeah, get to play better than them.’ But now you’re out here. Everybody is the best player from where they’re from. And you have to show that you can stack up against them as well.”

That environment is part of what keeps Glaus coming back.

It is also an experience his father understands well.

Troy Glaus first represented the United States on the 1995 and 1996 Collegiate National Teams before competing at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, helping the stars and stripes earn a bronze medal.

Before beginning his Major League career, he established himself as one of the best players in UCLA history and led the Bruins to the College World Series in 1997, its first CWS appearance since 1969.

Troy went on to a 13-year professional career that included an All-Star selection, a Silver Slugger award, and a World Series MVP award in 2002 after leading the Anaheim Angels to its first World Series Championship. He retired in 2010 with 320 career home runs and 950 RBIs.

Now, Troy has continued his connection to the game through coaching and player development, including coaching at USA Baseball’s 16U/17U National Team Development Program.

For Ty, however, Troy has always been his father first.

“He always made sure it was coach on the field and dad off the field,” Ty said. “It’s separate and it’s made both relationships much better.”

That distinction has allowed Ty to learn from his father while still developing his own relationship with the game.

And as Ty has gotten older, he has started to better understand the significance of his father’s own USA Baseball experience.

“It was really special to learn that he was on that Olympic team,” Ty said. “How cool that was, I never really grasped it before. But now, it’s special, I get to carry on that legacy.”

For Ty, carrying on that legacy isn’t about following the exact path his father took.

It’s about creating his own.

His USA Baseball journey already includes a gold medal, a game-tying home run, two ADP’s, and years of competing against some of the best players in his age group.

Now, at 15U National Team Training Camp, Glaus has another opportunity to continue that development.

This time, he is looking to take something different away from the experience.

“Just confidence, really,” Glaus said. “I want to take that away, perform well and match up against the top players in the country. Just to have that in your head that you can do that.”

That confidence is rooted in experience.

Glaus knows what it feels like to compete on an international stage. He knows what it feels like to be part of a team that comes from behind to win gold. And he knows what it feels like to step into an environment where everyone around him has earned the opportunity to be there.

Three years after first putting on the U-S-A uniform, Glaus has a better understanding of what these opportunities can give him.

And as he continues to build his own path in the game, he carries with him a simple lesson from his father:

Play free.